University of San Carlos

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering

EE 311 DC Circuits

First Order Circuit

Submitted by:

Alil Frances M. Kuizon

Submitted to:

Mr. Thamar Monsanto Tan

March 9, 2015

I.

INTRODUCTION
Circuits containing a resistor and only one type of storage element,
either an inductor or a capacitor are considered to be a first-order circuit. For
a step voltage/ current source input, the output can be expressed as
X ( t )=X ( ) + [ X ( 0 ) X ( ) ] x e

t
T

Where X(0) is the circuit response at t=0 and X() is the response at t=.The
parameter T is the time constant of the circuit and gives the time required for
the response to rise from zero to 63% of its final steady state or fall to 37% of
its initial value.
For RC circuit
T =RxC
For RL circuit
T=

L
R

Applying the equations above, the voltage responses across the capacitor
can be written as:
t

1e RC , for t 0
V C (t )=E
t

V R ( t )=E e RC , for t 0

II.

CIRCUIT OPERATIONS

The circuit above was constructed. The voltage across the capacitor was
measured in every 5 seconds interval for 2 minutes right after the powers supply
was turned on. Then the values were recorded in table 1 and the data was
graphed on figure 5.

The procedure above was repeated on the same circuit but this time the 1 M
ohms resistor was replaced with a 500k ohm resistor.

The capacitor was charged until it reached 20 v. Then without turning off the
power supply, the source was quickly removed and the open terminal of the resistor was
connected to the other terminal of the capacitor to form a loop. The voltage across the
capacitor was then measured in every 5 seconds interval for two minutes right after the
loop is formed. The values were recorded on table 2 and graphed on figure 6.

III.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 1
Charging
For procedure 5.1
Time (S)
VC(V)
0
0
5
3.41
10
4.70
15
6.01
20
7.29
25
8.42
30
9.32
35
10.27
40
10.96
45
11.51

For procedure 5.2

Time(S)
VC(V)
0
0
5
3.30
10
6.05
15
8.09
20
10.15
25
11.60
30
12.99
35
13.84
40
14.70
45
15.25

50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
115
120

12.09
12.68
13.16
13.57
13.89
14.15
14.28
14.44
14.57
14.71
14.81
14.95
15.07
15.18
15.30

50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
115
120

15.59
15.99
16.39
16.90
17.04
17.18
17.28
17.40
17.50
17.60
17.67
17.92
18.05
18.07
18.07

The results above show that the time duration the V C is equal to 63% of the
supplied voltage (50 s) is closely the same to the time constant of the circuit
(47 s). The results also show that in procedure 5.2, the capacitor charged
faster due to the lesser resistance value. Below is the charging graph of an
RC circuit.

Figure 5
25
20
15

1M ohm resistor

10
5
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Table 2
Discharging
Time(S)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
115
120

VC(V)
20.01
14.47
10.81
10.64
8.43
7.64
6.29
5.18
4.36
3.54
2.93
2.529
2.107
1.727
1.498
1.279
1.058
0.907
0.793
0.673
0.573
0.489
0.418
0.365
0.319

The above results also show that the time duration that V C is equal to 37% of
its final value (25 s) is closely the same to the time constant of the circuit
(23.5 s). Below is the discharging graph of an RC circuit.

Figure 6
25
20
15
10
5
0

IV.

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The experiment gave us basic understanding of the concept of time
constant and the step response of first order circuits. We were able to actually
see the practical measurements of the theory behind the First order circuit.
This is very helpful in making us understand the theory behind step
responses of first order circuit.
With the help of previous knowledge and lectures, the experiment was
made doable and more student friendly. This experiment adds to our growing
knowledge of this program we are taking.